From Population and Production to Exports and Executions, It’s Big

Facts and figures about Texas:

General

* Texas, or Tejas, was the Spanish pronunciation of a Caddo Indian word meaning “friends” or “allies.” The state motto is “friendship.”

* Texas is called the Lone Star State because of the design of the state flag: a broad vertical blue stripe at left with a white star in the center, and horizontal bars of white and red on the right.

* Texas is the second-largest state in the nation with a land area of 261,914 square miles, as large as all of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois combined.

* The capital is Austin.

* The state flower is the bluebonnet.

* Texas has a bicameral Legislature that meets every other year. The chief executive is the governor, whose term is for four years. However, except for making appointments, vetoing bills and calling special sessions of the Legislature, the governor’s powers are limited in comparison with most states. The lieutenant governor, who oversees the Senate and serves as chairman of the panel that prepares the recommended budget at the beginning of every legislative session, is generally considered the most powerful government official in Texas.

* Texas delivers 32 Electoral College votes, or more than one-tenth of the 270 needed to win the presidency.

Population

* Some 3 million people lived in Texas in 1900. The state is now the second most populous behind California, with more than 20 million people.

* Three of the 10 largest U.S. cities are in Texas: Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.

* The state’s population is expected to reach 33.9 million by 2030. Hispanics will account for two-thirds of the growth and are expected to outnumber Anglos in Texas by 2025.

* In 1900, only 17.1% of Texas’ population lived in cities. Today 85% live in urban areas. The state’s 27 metropolitan areas accounted for more than 91% of the state’s population growth in the 1990s. The fastest-growing areas were Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and towns along the Mexico border.

Economy

* The gross state product of Texas was an estimated $697.58 billion in 1999, third among the 50 U.S. states. Yet 15% of the population lives below the poverty level, and the per capita personal income in 1998 was $22,145--25th in the nation.

* Two-thirds of all trade between the United States and Mexico passes through Texas, which shares a 1,248-mile border with Mexico.

* The Port of Houston handles more foreign cargo than any other port in the United States.

* Texas is the nation’s second leading exporter, sending $91 billion worth of products to foreign markets in 1999. For every $8 in U.S. exports, slightly more than $1 was generated from exports originating in Texas.

* The value of foreign direct investment in Texas reached $72.3 billion in 1996.

* The state has no personal income tax.

Technology and Commerce

* Texas ranks second behind California in high-tech employment and growth. The state added more than 132,000 high-technology jobs from 1993 to 1998, increasing the tech work force to 411,000. Technology companies employ 56 of every 1,000 private sector workers in the state.

* Telecom Corridor in Richardson, outside Dallas, has the nation’s highest concentration of telecommunications firms--more than 350 within a two-square-mile area.

* Texas is the nation’s second-largest producer of electronic components.

* The state had 38 companies on the Inc. 500 fastest-growing companies 1999 listing, second only to California. Texas had the third-highest number of companies on the 1999 Forbes list, and the fourth-highest number on the 1999 Fortune list.

* The Texas Medical Center in Houston, with 13 hospitals and a collection of medical schools, is billed as the world’s largest medical complex. More than 125,000 people pass through it daily, and it employs more than 51,000.

Other

* Texas ranks last in state government spending per capita; 49th in state appropriations for the arts; 46th in maximum monthly welfare payments for needy families; 45th in percent of population graduating from high school; ninth in percent of children living in poverty; second in prisoner incarceration rate.

* The state ranks fifth in the nation for toxic chemicals released into the environment, and Houston has surpassed Los Angeles as the nation’s smoggiest city.

* Texas has the nation’s second-largest prison system, with about 151,000 inmates. More than 450 inmates are on Texas’ death row.

* Texas has executed 223 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, far more than any other state.

Sources: Texas Department of Economic Development, Texas Almanac, Texas State Data Center, U.S. Census Bureau.

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On the Net:

https://www.state.tx.us

https://www.texasalmanac.com

https://www.thc.state.tx.us/trivia.html